Chapter 5
"The enemy"
Much to Bella's disappointment, her absence had cost her another detention but this time she wasn't alone: very soon the twins were called in to serve the same fate. Bella had gone out to the grounds to meet up with Percy to help him with a 'Defense against the Dark Arts' essay he wasn't too sure about. When they met, they had taken out their books and studied out in the open air. It was a very nice day and Percy had inquired whether the rumor he had heard about his diabolical brothers was true. Bella confirmed it. He put his hand on his forehead in disappointment.
"Quite the mischief-makers those brothers of yours," said Bella pointing out the counter-curse for a twitching jinx.
"They're a bit loony if you ask me. They're getting a horrible start on school," he said as he lay on the grass.
"How's your Rune Reading class doing? Are you still having trouble?"
"Just a little, I always forget the accents when reading the symbols out loud. I wish you had taken that class then you could have helped me," he said his hands behind his head while he lounged.
"Well, I have a friend that could help. She's really good in that class," said Bella looking at the sky.
"Eh... No thanks, I'll manage,"
As they spoke unworriedly, the sound of crunching grass could be heard. Bella was still looking up when she heard a voice that made her heart go straight into her throat, her eyes widen and her breathing stop.
"Hey Percy, there you are! I've been looking for you. Listen, I was wondering if you'd want to come with Charlie and me to Hogsmeade. You're old enough to go now and the first visit is in two weeks," said Bill.
Bella's face had become so red she was sure that she matched Charlie's Quidditch robes. Bill turned his head to look at Bella and the moment he did, she scurried to the nearest book and buried her face in it. He smiled slightly and turned his attention to Percy.
"Well, how about it?" Bill asked again.
"Sure..." he said nonchalantly.
"Good. Say, Perce, can you spare a moment alone with me? There's something important I want to ask you,"
"Does it have to be now?" asked Percy not wanting to leave Bella alone.
"I just want to tell you something personal, it will only be a second," said Bill smiling and nodding to him to move to a side.
Percy frowned but got up. He walked well out of earshot of Bella as Bill put a hand on Percy's shoulder and smiled at his younger brother.
"I can't believe you! You could have at least told your eldest brother about her,"
"What?" asked Percy.
"I can't believe you have a girlfriend! Congratulations Percy! From the little I saw, she was very pretty!"
"WHAT? No-no! You've got it all wrong! I don't like her like that!" he said with a panicked voice.
"Yeah, right! Come on, go and introduce me to her! I want to know what kind of girl you like!" said Bill smiling and beginning to walk to the spot where they had left Bella.
Percy felt hot around the ears. He didn't want Bella to meet Bill and he had made her a promise not to tell him about her anyways. He tried to restrain Bill and told him that she was very shy and was often nervous around new people. Bill smirked and pushed Percy a side. However, by the time he got back to Bella, she was nowhere to be seen. Her books and things had vanished as well.
Bella had run fast and furiously into the castle, her heart beating like a steel drum resonating right through her. "You're so stupid!" she told herself once she headed for the Ravenclaw common room. "This was your chance! You could have said hello. You could have let him know your name!" she continued, cursing at her cowardice until she bumped into someone.
"Watch it 4th year!" said Winter nearly dropping her things.
"Sorry!" she said her face still flushed.
"Well... what's wrong with you? Didn't beat up anymore students today?" said Winter with a smirk.
"What are you talking about?"
"Ever since you beat up Oliver wood, you've been given quite the reputation,"
"What?"
"I can't believe this! You should really be more aware of what's going on around you, you know? Especially when it has to do with you! Your little redhead might not be impressed with you,"
"Bill doesn't even know who I am, why should I -"
"Oh... that's not the redhead I'm talking about. Like I said before, Bill belongs to Sandra. You can't have him. He's on reserve and there's no doubt in my mind that the moment the girl grabs hold of her senses, he'll jump at the chance to be with her. It's only natural Head-boy and Head-girl come together,"
Bella stared at the floor. She knew that although Winter's harshness, she was only looking out for the best interest of Sandra. However, if ever there were a moment that she knew Bill would go for her, she'd take it even if Sandra had started to take any interest in him. "She wouldn't be angry," Bella thought. "She knows I like him,"
"Just give up. That other Weasley's far more in your league, a bit of a nerd like you. You would look lovely together," she said jokingly however it seemed that Bella didn't find it so funny.
She sauntered away without a word. Winter gave her a stunned look. Perhaps that was a bit much. As Bella walked tears began to stream down her face. "Why am I crying?" she thought. "Is it because I know the truth? Because I know that through it all, Winter's telling me the truth? That Bill isn't the one for me?" She finally made it to the mirror and stood before it. She looked at her reflection. Her eyes were puffy and red. She wiped her tears on her sleeve and looked once again into the mirror. This time, there was someone standing behind her. Sandra looked at her worried.
"Bella... what is it?"
"Never mind Sandra," she sulked.
"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"
"No! I mean, yes, I'm sure,"
"Does it have to do with -"
"Astral Flight!" said Bella as the mirror created the image of a raven and it swung open.
Sandra followed her in but knew better then to question Bella just yet. She hated to see her upset and wondered if the there was anything she could do to make things right. Sandra then, had an idea.
Bella was feeling terrible. She launched herself onto her bed and let her face drop on her pillow. Her tears were now dry. "I'm so pathetic!" she thought. She lay there immobile until she heard a lovely purr next to her. The grayish Kneazle she had gotten began to purr by her side. She lifted her head and began to pet it gently. "Well... you know what I'm thinking don't you? You're too smart not to," she said in a croaked voice. "It's time to stop being a baby. It's time for me to just do it and even if he isn't interested, it doesn't matter cause at least I tried... is that it?" the Kneazle meowed. "I think I'll call you Stormy. Do you like that?" Stormy rubbed her neck against Bella's head and hand contented. It was the weekend yet she was no mood to go out.
One month rolled by before she even talked to Percy. He sat in the common room wondering why his friend had been scared off like that. Oliver Wood had, by then, completely recovered emotionally over his mortifying defeat at the Quidditch pitch but wasn't prepared when he heard from Bill just who Percy's new friend really was: "Yeah... this girl. She's from Ravenclaw. Beth or somewhat... Well I gotta go!" Oliver kept lecturing him on how he was consorting with the enemy but Percy took no note of it. His mood had dipped into a saddened gloom as his other brothers seemed to be thrilled about something. He could easily guess what Charlie was frantic about. He shook violently every time anyone ever mentioned Halloween. "Yes! Our first match is 4 days from then!" he could be heard saying every time he heard the word. The twins seemed most occupied as well. They were unusually quiet and he could only dare to dream up the next scheme they were planning. However, Bill had to be the most difficult to figure out. He seemed very cheerful, too cheerful and always had a large smirk on his face but whenever Percy would question him about it all he said was: "All in due time!"
"Ok. So it's been a month and we still haven't figured it out, maybe its just rubbish and we should throw it away!" said Jonathan as all four boys sat on the grounds near the Whomping Willow.
"No! It wouldn't be in Filch's office drawers if it wasn't important or at least interesting," protested George.
"But you said it's dangerous! It's blank! There's nothing dangerous about it," analyzed Lee turning the parchment upside down and in all directions.
"Well... that's because we don't know how to work it. Be patient, both of you. We'll crack it!" said Fred.
"Well, tell us when you do ok? We're going to see if we can find our way into the kitchen. Neither of us can wait for dinner," said Jonathan as they left, Lee following close behind.
"You think it really is nothing?" asked Fred.
"No, you're right. There's just something about that parchment,"
The twins walked back into the castle to find Charlie and ask him how many seconds were left until the first Quidditch match. Little did they know that they were looking in the completely wrong direction and found their other brother instead.
"So... I'll see you later then?" said Bill with a grin.
"Alright, just don't tell anyone about our meetings, especially your brothers. I want to keep this between us," said a girl.
"Ok, I promise,"
"Thank you Bill," she added as she turned away.
Bill came walking in direction of the twins who simply looked at their brother in shock. As they heard the foot steps draw closer, they hid near a suit of armor and watched Bill blankly pass by. The twins decided to leave the scene of the crime. This wasn't expected at all.
Percy decided to go to the Great Hall. He didn't have much to do and settle on reading up for Arithmancy class. He sat next to Charlie and Jaycee who were looking at each other seriously... seriously angered.
"How can you say that?" said Charlie with a crestfallen expression.
"Well... I CAN! I mean, it's obvious isn't it??" said Jaycee a little hot.
"I still think you're over re-acting. I mean why does it matter anyways?"
"Well-I-umm..."
"What is it?"
"I... I've got to go see if Wood is ready for the next match. We'll talk about this later!" she said as she dashed off.
Percy gave Charlie a look as he walloped down on the table. Charlie looked sorely depressed and wondered what he had done wrong. Percy was far too curious to ignore this and it looked like Charlie needed a good talk anyways. He was usually always so up beat that this side of him looked very odd.
"What was that all about Charlie? You and Jaycee and never fight," said Percy.
"I don't get it. I thought it was just a joke at first you know?" echoed the sound of Charlie's voice from under the dead weight of his head.
"What was?" asked Percy as Charlie faced him.
"Well, I was just talking to Mindee, you know that Hufflepuff girl that I'm friends with? I was talking to her about who they should take for captain of their team because their real one wasn't good... and Jaycee, out of nowhere, comes up to me and tells me that I'm betraying the team AND that the girl was only friends with me because I could help her! I don't understand where she comes up with that!" he said scratching his head.
Percy thought for a moment and then asked:
"Is Mindee pretty?"
"What? Well... yes she is but -"
"Charlie I think there's something going on here that you're not realizing,"
"What?" he asked innocently.
Percy sighed.
"I don't know if it's really my place to tell you,"
"Come on Perce! What is it??" he said eagerly.
"I think she likes you,"
"Well, I hope she does, we've been friends for -"
"NO! Charlie... I think she LIKES you - likes you,"
"But... oh..."
"At least that what I think, no need to trust me on these kinds of things. I don't seem to be very good at reading them,"
Suddenly, Percy swore he saw a patch of pink under Charlie's freakily face. The Gryffindor Captain got up and walked away from the table without a word, his mind somewhere else.
He walked back to the Gryffindor tower with his thoughts swerving. "She... she LIKES me - likes me... How? I mean... we've been friends for ever... so... why only now? No one else has ever really LIKED me like that... so why would she? Aw Man! I need to talk to Bill!" He reached the common room and entered eagerly. If anyone in his entire family had some sort of expertise in these kinds of things it was Bill. Although Charlie was nearly the same age as his brother, he had far less experience dealing with this. He preferred to concentrate on Quidditch then take in the sport of 'Girl-Chasing'. He looked about and found him sitting in one of the red armchairs with a book in his hands. Charlie made his way there and made sure that no one was around to listen.
"Bill, I need your help," he said as sat on the floor right in front of him.
"What is it Charlie?" he asked curiously.
"Well, Percy told me something - and I don't know what to do about it - and since you know more then anyone else about these sorts of things - then I thought -" he said very fast.
"Whoa! Charlie! You just said absolutely nothing! Now calm down and tell me the in between of all that and maybe I can help,"
"Well, I guess the short of it is that... Percy thinks that Jaycee might – you know... LIKE me - like me..." he said shyly.
Bill's mouth twisted into a huge smile. He put his book on the table and bent down to stare at Charlie. He crossed his hands in a very pensive way and put a finger to his mouth, his hands still intertwined. Charlie looked up in horror; he was starting a look, a look that could also be seen in the twins' eyes when they were up to no good.
"So... is there any evidence of her liking you like that?" he said now highly interested.
"Well, she got mad at me for talking to a pretty Hufflepuff," he said.
"Which one?" asked Bill. Charlie rolled his eyes.
"Mindee," he said wondering whether or not Bill would start to comment.
"Oh! The 5th year? Yeah, she's very pretty," he said.
"I figured you'd forget about me! So? What does that mean?"
"It means, Charlie my boy, that she's jealous,"
"Jealous?"
"Yeah, girls in reality have a stronger sense of rivalry then boys do. They hint at ANY silly little thing you might do, like talk to another girl for example, that they are the ones that should have most of your attention! I'm telling you, it's a female reflex," Bill stated like he was some sort of expert on the female psyche.
"So... what does this have to do with me?"
"Well, in most cases rivalry is bad; it puts a man in a very shaky position. BUT in this case, it's good because then she will start to manifest her anger and show that she really likes you,"
"I don't follow,"
"This will make it obvious and THEN you can confront her about it,"
Charlie looked at Bill very shaken. "Girls are scary!" he thought. He didn't really want her to be even MORE angry at him nor to confront this just yet. He was still taking in the impact of the news. But when he thought about it carefully he realized that maybe confronting her would be the best thing. He never really fathomed what it would be like to be with Jaycee in that way. He always thought she was very pretty and told her so on many occasions but he was sure that she never took him seriously. She sort of had this strange idea in her head that she was a tomboy but Charlie never believed in it. He always saw the radiant femininity in her every time she smiled, the way she was around him, the way she would jump excitedly to throw her arms around him and the looks she gave. Indeed, Charlie always thought there was this something about her but he never had enough nerve to really seek it. Quidditch often replaced this curiosity with discussion. When Charlie awoke from his contemplation Bill had already lead a long discourse in how delicate talking to girls is.
"...But before I get into that... Charlie, what do you think of Jaycee? Would you ever go out with her?" he asked.
Charlie cheeks went pink.
"Yes I would," said Charlie without difficulty. He didn't notice however that the conversation was being overheard.
George and Fred simultaneously put their hands on their foreheads. They looked totally appalled with it all. Both boys walked over to their siblings and looked at them like they had just committed a heinous crime.
"Wonderful! First Bill and then Charlie? Tell me, does Percy have a girlfriend too?" said George in despair.
"Well, doesn't he? What about that girl he always hangs around with?" said Bill to Charlie who just nodded. Apparently he didn't know more about it then the twins.
"He hangs around with a girl?" said in disbelief Fred. "We've got to check this out!"
"Where is he?" asked George.
"In the Great Hall last I saw," said Charlie feeling a bit red for being found out so early.
"Great let's go!" and with that both boys disappeared as quickly as they appeared.
"Percy with a girlfriend!" chuckled George.
"That's rich!" laughed Fred.
But they stopped laughing once they saw who this girl was. Standing near the doors to the Great Hall was Percy and Bella. She was apologizing for leaving him so suddenly that day and not seeing him for so long. It seemed that he was okay with it because he was looking contented. Fred and George walked right up to them and spat out:
"You're Percy girlfriend?"
"You can't be! You helped us with Peeves!"
"No girlfriend of Percy's would know stuff like that!"
"OR be in detention!"
The twins saw Percy's face go bright red with annoyance and embarrassment. The boys were talking VERY loudly and more publicity on this was the last thing he needed.
"NO! We're not going out! Dear Lord, why can't anyone get it through their heads?" shouted Percy.
"Bill told us -" said Fred.
"Bill doesn't know anything! He doesn't even know that it's really Bella who likes him!" said Percy in the midst of his babbling.
"PERCY HOW COULD YOU!!" shouted Bella angrily.
"Oh! Sorry I -" started Percy.
"Hold on! Are you serious?" asked George.
"This day just gets better and better!" added Fred.
Bella covered her face with her hands in shame.
"Hey, don't worry. We won't tell,"
"Yeah! I mean, we owe you for saving Jonathan so we won't tell,"
"Besides, maybe it's better that you forget about it,"
"Yes, Bill already has a girlfriend,"
Bella removed her hands from her face. She stared at the boys in total shock as they unveiled this news.
"Who's he going out with?" asked Bella eagerly.
"That girl he's been after... Sandra something. We saw them together earlier. They've been having secret meetings!"
"They must be going out,"
Percy turned around to see Bella's reaction. She was as pale as she'd ever been. Percy knew that Sandra was still her friend and knew about her crush on Bill for far longer then he did. Bella also always told him that Sandra would never turn around and do something like that to her. However, it explained Bill's sudden up beat humor. He gazed at Bella who just turned around and left the hall. All three Weasleys just stood there looking at each other with saddened faces. At this point there was very little either of them could do. One of Bella's best friends turned out to be an enemy.
